Ex-GOP counsel offers Democrats advice on how to deal with Mitch McConnell's filibuster threats

Appearing on MSNBC's "The Sunday Show," the former Republican Party counsel to the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee had some advice for Democrats who are on the receiving end of threats from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

They have nothing to fear from him and should go about doing what they need to do to get legislation passed, she explained.

Asked about McConnell's comments that the filibuster is not racist and should be left intact, former Republican Sophia Nelson scoffed at McConnell's threats.

"Sophia, I'm going to be talking about this in my byline so I don't mean to give it away," host Jonathan Capehart prompted. "But I want to ask you this question: what do you make of this choice that's out there, that Democrats have to make, that if you blow up the filibuster, Mitch McConnell says, 'oh, watch out. all hell is going to break loose.' On the other hand, if you don't do anything with the filibuster, President Biden's agenda isn't going anywhere. When it comes to that, which choice do you make?"

"They can use the reconciliation process as you know, but here's the thing," Nelson replied. "Here's my advice to Democrats, as someone who was a Republican for 25-plus years: stop being afraid of Mitch McConnell, he's not afraid of you."

"You need to do what you need to do in order to get this president's agenda through, to get infrastructure bills, health care reform, any type of other things we need to do," she added. " I don't think you ought to get rid of the filibuster, Jonathan, but you have to radically reform it and civil rights and voting rights are going to be drastically impacted if we don't do something about it."

Watch below:

MSNBC 03 28 2021 10 23 18youtu.be